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The European Council (EC) has endorsed the agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union (EU) and the European Atomic Energy Community.
TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports this is following a special meeting by President Donald Tusk and members of the European Council that finalised and formalised the outcome of the Brexit negotiations in Brussels on Sunday.
The 27 EU leaders, present at the meeting, approved the two key Brexit documents: the EU Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration.
The Withdrawal Agreement ensures that the rights of citizens are fully protected, and the peace process in Northern Ireland is not affected, and that the UK will continue its payments to the EU budget during the transition period and legal certainty will be secured.
The Political Declaration sets the direction as regards future relations.
EU27 has endorsed the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration on the future EU-UK relations.
— Charles Michel (@eucopresident) November 25, 2018
On this basis, the EC has invited the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council to take the necessary steps to ensure that the agreement can enter into force on 30 March 2019, so as to provide for an orderly withdrawal.
TNG reports the EC approved the Political Declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The Council restates the Union’s determination to have as close as possible a partnership with the United Kingdom in the future in line with the Political Declaration.
“The Union’s approach will continue to be defined by the overall positions and principles set out in the previously agreed European Council’s guidelines. The European Council will remain permanently seized of the matter,” the EC said in a statement.
The Council thanks Michel Barnier for his tireless efforts as the Union’s chief negotiator and for his contribution to maintaining the unity among EU27 Member States throughout the negotiations on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.